"I trust the engineers, but I have some questions and I plan to ask them." -- Jefferson Parish Council Chairman Elton Lagasse

Jefferson Parish officials are considering doubling the potential value of existing contracts for tree removal and street lighting, adding $4.5 million in parish work without seeking new competitive bids. A large portion of that money is needed to pay for emergency expenses related to Hurricane Isaac and for "time-sensitive" work needed ahead of the Super Bowl in February, officials said.

But Council Chairman Elton Lagasse said he has questions about other proposed expenses, and he said he plans to question the administration when the Parish Council considers the proposals at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

Parish President John Young has generally favored seeking competitive offers for parish work. At his request, the Parish Council has opened for bids several contracts that had been traditionally renewed or expanded without seeking offers.

But the administration is now asking the Parish Council to raise the allowed expenses in a two-year, tree removal contract with Bayou Tree Service, almost doubling its potential value from $525,000 to just over $1 million. The administration is also proposing to double the cap for a two-year deal with W.J. Bloecher Co. for street light repairs and improvements, going from $4 million to $8 million.

Both firms obtained their current contracts by winning competitive bid processes. The proposed additions to the contracts' caps would require only Parish Council approval and would not require the parish to seek offers from other firms.

Young emphasized that both contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder for a period of two years. He said that original fee cap is only an internal accounting control. The terms of the contract allow the parish to add services during that period within the scope of the agreements, he said.

"These are low bid, good quality contractors and the scope of services is not being expanded on either contract," Young said.

Administration officials said part of the increases are needed to pay for emergency, storm-related items. Parkways director Wayne Nocito said the additional $500,000 in Bayou Tree's contract would help pay for almost $650,000 in tree removal costs caused by Hurricane Isaac. He said the emergency declaration during the storm allowed the administration to authorize the work immediately, and to seek the approval from the council now that the work has been completed.

Engineering director Mark Drewes said the addition to the street light contract includes about $100,000 in expected emergency expenses related to Isaac. But Drewes said another $1.1 million would help pay for lighting improvements on Airline Drive, between Labarre Road and the Orleans Parish line.

Officials said the Super Bowl organizing committee asked the parish in May to consider improvements in that section of Airline, which is expected to see heavy traffic as visitors travel in and out of the city or to the Saints training facility in Metairie. Drewes said because the road is a state highway, it took until August to get all the necessary authorizations. That left little time to draft a formal bid request and complete it without risking delays to the work, he argued. He said it can take three to four months just for the manufacturer to make and deliver the decorative light poles the parish plans to install.

The Airline Drive work could not be completed under the contracts' current $4 million cap, Drewes said, which is already assigned to other projects, maintenance or unforeseen repair needs.

But the proposed increase in streetlight work would also let the administration add another $1.6 million in planned improvements, including work in the Bissonet area in Metairie and along Barataria Boulevard in Marrero. Drewes said that work is not emergency or time-sensitive. The administration's argument is that the parish could use the existing designs in the current contract to reduce costs.

Lagasse and Roberts, the two parishwide representative in the council, both said they plan to support the increases related to Isaac expenditures and to the Airline Drive project tied to the Super Bowl. Roberts said he also plans to support the remaining additions.

"If that is the administration's position and apparently their recommendation, I will vote favorably," Roberts said.

But Lagasse on Tuesday said he had questions about the work that's not related to Isaac or the Super Bowl. He said he wants to hear more from the administration about whether that work is really needed in the current contract, or whether it could be sent out for bids. "I trust the engineers, but I have some questions and I plan to ask them," Lagasse said.

Bayou Tree didn't contribute to the campaign of any parish official in the two-year period before the contracts' approval, according to affidavits filed by the firm. W.J. Bloecher Co. and its owners listed contributions totaling $10,000 to Roberts' campaign. Roberts has said, as have other council members, that campaign contributions play no role in the council's contract decisions.

The council meeting is set to start Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Kenner City Council Chambers, 1801 Williams Blvd.